Due to her larger Air Wing she definitely deserves "A Fighter Cover SA" I just think 5 is to low.
Since she carried mostly Albacores or Avengers with Fighters I'd give her Exert Torpedos and Expert Fighter Expert Torpedo goes nice with Formidable SA
The presence of my squadron of fighters is a very very low bar. Might as well just make her cap 3.
Perhaps if she had 2 squadrons of fighters, an additional squadron. Which could then be bombers?
I was intentionally trying to make it a low bar, and still adhere to the stat guidelines. But one of my local club members also suggested requiring two squadrons of fighters. It just makes the carrier a little less attractive. But add another CAP 2 carrier to your fleet and you have a three bomber strike group, one escort, and one fighter left for CAP. So that works in theory.
The IJN Carrier Liberation Force - "Because We Care" Join the IJNCVLF. Service Guarantees Citizenship!
I get the rationale, but I got to admit, it seems gimmicky to me. If it's going to be cap3, make it cap3. If not, then an SA like Fighter Cover or Replenish is better.
I mean when fleet building you can easily plan for a CAP3 by sticking two fighters on Indomitable...hey instant Cap3. Just make it a Cap3, add SAs and cost accordingly and be done with it, or it will need one of the .5 CAP SA's.
We could go the Shinano route and give it Poor Facilities 3.
I get the rationale, but I got to admit, it seems gimmicky to me. If it's going to be cap3, make it cap3. If not, then an SA like Fighter Cover or Replenish is better.
I mean when fleet building you can easily plan for a CAP3 by sticking two fighters on Indomitable...hey instant Cap3. Just make it a Cap3, add SAs and cost accordingly and be done with it, or it will need one of the .5 CAP SA's.
We could go the Shinano route and give it Poor Facilities 3.
In a sense it did have poor facilities. The RN compromised on aircraft capacity in exchange for the armored flight decks. The armor was the main reason for much more limited hangar space in their carriers. The armored flight decks were better for kamikaze defense, but that turned out to be a marginal advantage overall. Those carriers had a much shorter operational life because the entire ship "frame" was warped by the damage. The American carriers just ripped up and replaced the wood decks and kept going.
Anyway, I think "Poor Facilites" would do the job.
The IJN Carrier Liberation Force - "Because We Care" Join the IJNCVLF. Service Guarantees Citizenship!
Flag2 is a very unique carrier in general, let alone the British.
Eagle has EDF2, but it's a Cap 1.
This would be the only Brit fleet carrier with it, and they don't have the same fighter options as the US (if you aren't using Lend-Lease). If you do use Lend-Lease, it's no worse than the US Carriers (especially since it's Cap 2 or Cap 2+).
Flag: 2 Expert Dogfighter: Once per turn, you may choose a friendly Fighter. That Fighter rolls one extra attack die when making Antiair attacks this turn. Expert Dogfighter: Once per turn, you may choose a friendly Fighter. That Fighter rolls one extra attack die when making Antiair attacks this turn. Damage Control: At the end of each turn, you may roll a die. On a 5 or higher, remove 1 point of hull damage from this unit. You may remove only 1 point of hull damage per game with this ability
Ok, Here's my thought process...
Yes, Expert Dogfighter is listed twice. The rationale on this also includes increasing the Capacity to 3... without any other expert abilities players will put fighters on the carrier to be able to utilize the ED and be able to use it on two separate fighters (which is the primary rationale behind the design). The rules state that a unit can not benefit from a bonus of the same name twice, it does not state that a unit cannot provide a bonus of the same name to two different units. I'm not proposing EDF2 because I think it would start an arms race between Axis Fleets in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean and might cause some imbalance to start to show through especially in 1941-1942 year battles.
This also gets us away from the 1/2 capacity of Fighter Cover or Replenish. Yes, a player can base three attack craft on this version… but would get no benefit from doing so. Thus providing a choice of playstyle and not 'bookshelving' any existing units.
Damage Control I think fits the unit due to it's history and as a nod to the crew's ability to prevent her from sinking not once, but twice (1942 & 1943).
Feel free to tear this apart... I now return to lurking mode. ;-)
au64, I do like the dual listing of ExF and suggested that for a previous unit (Essex Hornet I think). It is a bit hokey though and just seems unprofessional.
I also don't like the idea of Fighter Cover being increased to 7. That's a normal fighter value for a full squadron (25 planes). on the other hand, I do think Fighter Cover 5 is a good way to represent the extra capacity of the carrier.